The Story of my Life
by Roadleader
Summary: Were you ever wondering what made Petra the person she is? What happened to her that she spends her life risking her neck on dangerous quests? Why she doesn't seem to have a real home? It's the story of life - her life. WARNING: drama, character death IMAGE SOURCE: Pinterest - "Minecraft Story Mode Petra" by Viharos on DeviantArt
1. Sweet childhood memories

**Welcome to another fanfic in the MCSM-fandom!  
This one deals with my own suggestions about whould could've possibly happened to Petra in the past, before she gets caught up in the game's adventure. But it won't turn out to be a happy story in the end, please be sure of that.**

 **Warnings will be added at the beginning of the chapter when necessary. Rated T (- M) for safety.  
**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Minecraft: Story Mode" or its characters; I just formed a backstory to Petra. This fanfiction, on the contrary, is mine. Also, the story's image is not mine; I found it on Pinterest where it was pinned by Millie and it's originally from DeviantArt, drawn by Viharos.  
**

 **Of course, reviews would be appreciated. Don't be shy to point out any typos/ errors, if you spot them. And now enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter one: Sweet childhood memories**

"You have do dodge left, Petra. LEFT, I said! Not right!"

The funny little girl chuckled in amusement, raised her small-sized wooden sword and met her trainer's weapon with the blunt blade. Technically, her trainer was her older brother Oliver. And, technically, it was a nine-year-old versus a fourteen-year-old.

Her flashy, brown eyes met his green ones when she attacked him in return; he blocked it single-handed and laughed in amusement. "You should change your strategy, sweetie!"

"Never!" she yelled while intensely trying to break his defense, but she stood no chance against the boy and, finally, gave up. Breathing heavily, her face turned on an insulted expression.

"That's not fair!" she pointed out, "I never win!"

"Wrong, little sister: YOU weren't listening."

Harshly trying not to burst into tears, she fell down on the ground and threw her sword away.

"You'd probably win, if you changed your strategy." "My strategy's perfect! You're just too dump to understand it!"

Howling in frustration, she rose to her feet and ran over to the small cottage at the edge of the small, grassy plain they'd 'trained' on. Oliver sighed in annoyance, put his own stone sword back into his inventory and picked up the small wooden sword. Young ambition appreciated and all that stuff, but his sister dragged it way too far sometimes. Maybe because she was still a kid after all, but he was a teenager and reserved his right to be upset by such behavior!

When he approached the cottage, he almost ran into his father. Oh no, had had this stare again...

"What was it this time?" was his simple question to his son.

"I didn't do anything!" Oliver said, brushing his hand through his short, black hair. "She's just too stubborn to do as she's told! Not my fault!"

"I don't blame you for anything, Oliver, calm down!"

Astonished, the young boy went silent. His father gave him a secret wink before continuing his way to the back of the small hutch. "Patience, it's just a phase. You'll learn soon enough."

Oliver stood alone for a second, wondering what the last statement was about, before he decided to store it deep in the back of his head and opened the door.

Inside the small house he found his mother and his sister cuddled up closely to each other on the sofa in the living room; the small one holding a mug of hot chocolate. One could undoubtedly see right now whom Petra got her bright red hair from. Although hers was quite longer, the similarities between mother and daughter were more than obvious. They had the same heart-shaped face, the same brown colored eyes. On the contrary, Oliver had become a small look-alike of his father: short black hair with a few longer strands at the forehead and green eyes. But if you wanted to compare their personalities: those had gone past the gender barriers - completely past them.

"Hey Oliver, darling." his mother greeted him when she saw him. Petra on the other hand didn't seem very pleased to have him near her again: "What does HE want?!"

"Petra!" the woman reprimanded her, "Is that a manner to treat your brother?"

"He deserves it! I've got every right there!"

Oliver harshly placed his hands on his hips and gave his mother an angry stare. "SHE started it!"

"I don't care who of you has started it. I'm finishing it." she answered calmly and placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Petra?"

The little girl had snuggled deeper into the pillow behind her, had crossed her arms and obviously intended never to speak with anyone again.

"Petra, you will apologize to your brother."

She shook her red so violently, it made her hair fly. Oliver sighed again; the situation has already begun to go on his nerves. "Just leave it, mum, it's useless to try tell her anything!"

"That's not true!" Petra yelled, instantly forgetting about her plan not to talk to him.

"So what did I just say to you?" the older red-haired woman asked and Petra found herself stuck in a mental oneway road. Her older brother lifted an eyebrow. She had no other choice.

"S... shorry." she muttered between her teeth.

"What?" asked Oliver in confusion. "I couldn't hear you."

"I said SORRY!" the girl shouted almost angrily and for a second everyone froze. Then their mother started laughing, a fair sound full of joy that infected her oldest child, whether he wanted it or not. And Petra also couldn't help it but giggling too. Simply put, the fun was stronger than the frustration and when they finally stopped laughing, the anger was gone.

"You're both crazy, you know that?" their mother asked, stroking aside a red strand.

"Agreed." Oliver replied, "But whose fault is it?"

* * *

Today, on this sunny day, the family was travelling to town as a whole, for the adults had some business to do and the kids were starving for some fun. And fun they should get there.

"Oliver, the command is yours while we're gone." said their father to his son after they'd entered the town. Only the last instructions were given.

"Take care of your sister and keep both of you unharmed and out of trouble."

"Finn, are you sure you're not overreacting a little on this?" their mother chuckled. She had just fixed Petra's ponytail - her hair has already reached her hips - and was momentarily checking her inventory.

"You should be thankful that I value their safety so much!"

Oliver groaned in annoyance and facepalmed; his eyes had already catched a few other teenage boys on the other side of the place. "Dad, stop it, you're embarrassing!"

"Oh, a great warrior's wisdom is never -"

"Finn, just let's go." the slender woman laughed, took her husband's hand and winked at her son. "We meet here four hours before nightfall. Have fun, you two!"

She knew how Oliver was feeling about his father's behavior, but her oldest son was too calm in mind to be resentful. And at the same time she killed two birds with one stone: She also had a great concern about her kids' safety, so they'd appointed Oliver Petra's babysitter. He would be kept so busy that there wasn't any time left to get into trouble. And so it was.

 **[2 hours later]**

"Petra, for goodness sake, stay close to me!" Oliver groaned breathlessly. But his little sister didn't waste a second to even consider listening to him. Although she'd been to town lots of times before, everything appeared new and exciting to her. Because of her short and slender figure, it was not problem for her to dodge under a few person's legs to reach the next cool place - in this case an auto-farmer, explaining his invention to a few interested listeners. "You save so much time, you almost don't know what to do with it!" aforesaid farmer momentarily presented.

"Petra!" Oliver called out, pushing his way through the crowd with lots of apologies. His sister had already reached the first line, had placed her tiny hands on the security fence around the slot and was listening to the presenter. But right when Oliver was close enough to reach out for her, she lost every interest and dived into the crowd of people again.  
"No, Petra!"

"Hold it, boy, we want to hear this!"

"Silence!"

"What's going on?"

Under many excuses, he managed to get out of the horde of people, just to find his sister vanished once more. Annoyed to death, he sighed heavily and facepalmed. This was horrible! Right now, he was very close to curse his mother, for he knew for sure that THIS had been her plan all along! Keeping him and Petra out of trouble by making him chase her all around the place! Brilliant!

"Hey, babysitter!"

Oliver lowered his hand to find himself standing in front of an eighteen-year-old badass teenage ruler named Freddy. Or Freddy standing in front of him, this one he didn't know exactly. The older one's hair and clothes could one be described as cool, and a victorious grin decorated his face. Oliver nearly vanished when standing beside him; he would never be as cool as this guy. The only part of his outlook he was really proud about was his blue cap he was wearing almost all the time.

"Hey Freddy." he said nevertheless, trying to look chilled, "'Sup?"

Freddy only laughed at him and crossed his arms at his weak try. "Ow, the little boy's attempting to be cool! What are you doing here anyway? Holding this carrot head on the line?"

Oliver quickly looked away when shame blushed his cheeks. He had nothing to say about this statement that was cool enough - and he hated himself for it. Also, he was warmly disinclined to Freddy's discriminating nickname for his sister.

"What's up, loser? Swallowed your tongue?"

"Hey!" an angry, high voice shouted and both turned to the right where it had come from. Petra had appeared out of nowhere and her eyes were piercing Freddy in bare rage. "Leave him alone!"

"Oh, there's the carrot head again!" Freddy joked cynically, "I'm so scared!"

"Shut your mouth, if you know what's good for you!"

"Petra, please calm it." Oliver tried to save the situation. But, as always, hit little sister didn't listen: "I don't allow you to talk to my brother like that!"

This time, the older one really laughed and wiped his eyes in amusement. "Woah, you don't ALLOW me? So cute... as if I care, scum!"

"SHUT UP!"

Now, those two word had come from both of the siblings, but there still existed a difference. While Oliver simply gave the bully an angry stare Petra decided to let her fists speak. She got a little warm-up, met the older guy head on and punched him right in the bally. Freddy gasped, more out of surprise than actual pain, and held her off with both arms.

"Damn it, loser, didn't you read the sign? No dogs off the line!"

"Petra, stop it!" He took his little sister's shoulders and calmed her down enough to make her let go.

"Get this carrot fury a muzzle!" Freddy snapped before leaving the scene.

Oliver sighed heavily. This had been way too close!

"Don't mess with me, pig!" Petra yelled, but that was enough. Grabbing her arm tightly, Oliver pulled her around to face him.

"Petra, stop it already!" he shouted. "Look what you've done! You disgraced yourself perfectly, and me with you! You can't boss people around like they're your puppets! Damn it, you even HIT someone! Pull yourself together, this is not about being the strongest! Look at yourself, you're not even ten years old! Your behavior is ridiculous!"

Petra was so shocked, she froze completely. She stared at her brother with wide brown eyes and knew for sure that she'd gone way too far. Never before he'd shouted at her like that.

"Now come with me, we have to meet Mom and Dad; we're already late anyway. And no jokes!"

The whole way back home Petra stayed quiet, stuck to her brother and didn't make a fuss of anything; not even when they went past a pasture with sheep on it.

At home, both kids went to bed early and their parents let them. They sensed that something must have occurred back in town, but both kids were unharmed and so it was a matter for them alone. Oliver had almost managed to find some sleep after tossing around a lot, when suddenly a shy knock came from his door. He groaned unwillingly, turned over to see if it was his Mom and discovered a few blue flowers, swinging in front of his nose. They were hold in position by a tiny hand and behind them there appeared a familiar face with sad green eyes, surrounded by a mess of red hair.

"I'm sorry about what happened in town." Petra said, "I picked them up for you."

Oliver sighed, but a slight smile appeared on his face whether he wanted it or not. They both shared a favorite color: Blue.

"Are you still mad at me?"

He let out a long, exhausted breath but said: "No, I'm not."

The smile on Petra's face was more a grin that parted her jaws in half and brighter than midday's sunshine.

"BUT you must understand that you really screwed it up back there. You know that?"

"Yes I know." she nodded, "But I promise you, I'll be the world's best sister from now on!"

He was so skeptical about this, he didn't even protest when she climbed on to his bed, dived beneath his blanket and snuggled against his side. "You wish, little fool!"

* * *

"Mom, can we keep it?"

"Once again Petra: No. Sheep. At. Home!"

The little girl's wide-eyed face dropped while cuddling the young baby sheep tighter. "But-"

"I said no! Come on, darling, let go of this poor creature, you're strangling it!"

"Don't want to!"

The red-haired woman sighed, slowly running out of patience. Putting it simply, she took her daughter's hands and pulled them away from the sheep, which was relieved to be able to breathe freely again. Then she put a hand on Petra's back to lead her away from the animals. The young girl moaned in disappointment when they left the pasture. The sheep, on the other hand, didn't care that much about what was happening.

"But next year, yes, Mom?"

"No, Petra."

"And the year after?"

"No."

"And-"

"We don't have the space and time for a sheep, that's a fact!" the older one interrupted her, "You understand?"

Petra fell silent and managed to get a last glimpse of the baby sheep.

"And in four years?"

Her mother sighed. "Definitely not. Come on, it's evening already and we have to make it back home before your chocolate's cold."

"Chocolate?!"

The woman chuckled, only took her daughter's hand and spared an answer to that. She knew very well how to distract Petra - if it was necessary.


	2. (No) Teenage Dream - Part 1

**Here we go again. The story's growing a little darker now... In more ways than one. Thank you very much for the nice reviews I've got so far; let me know what you think about the new chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter two: (No) Teenage dream - Part 1  
**

The shadows beneath the leafs of the forest were growing longer and darker from minute to minute. All the deer, pigs and squirrels - animals of the day - went to sleep and vanished to make way for the creatures of the dark. In the distance, one could hear the howling of a lonely wolf. Was it a trick of the light that the apples in the trees appeared like glowing red eyes?

Every villager had retreated to his home long before nightfall, but still one person remained in the woods. Her long, red hair shone like a redstone torch in the last beams of sunlight while she was secretly sneaking past the suspicious apple tree. Her brown leather boots hardly caused any noise, a pair of brown eyes scanned the twilight all around. The young, slender teenage girl winced when the first signs of monster reached her ears and drew her iron sword, a gift to her sixteenth birthday. Adrenaline rushed in her ears and sharpened all her senses - and she loved it!

Carefully, she sneaked past a group of oak trees when, all of a sudden, a zombie spawned nearby her and limped into her direction, growling in anger. A fierce grin appeared on her face - challenge accepted!

Giving out a remarkable scream, she met the zombie head on and swung her sword. Two times it damaged the zombie before she sent him to the Nothing with the last strike. Her reward wasn't the best one to expect - a piece of rotten flesh - be nevertheless she was proud of herself. One step closer to becoming the best female warrior ever seen!

A hiss, coming out from somewhere behind her, made her turn around and face a clearly aggressive spider. The creature hissed again and jumped at her, but Petra stepped aside quickly and let it jump right into her blade. It vanished in a few smoke circles and left nothing behind, but its eye. Collecting the loot, Petra straightened her back and looked around when an arrow flew past her right ear and nailed itself into the tree behind her. Letting out an alarmed squeak, she dodged to the left and took cover behind the tree. "A skeleton, shit!" she cursed.

She didn't have much experience with those monsters yet and the only weapons she had with her were either her sword or a pickaxe. Both not the best tools to fight a bowman. And there were only spawning more and more beasts beneath the trees as the night grew darker. She had to act quickly.

Deciding that she shouldn't try her luck on the archer right now, she made a run for it and sliced herself a way through the monsters. Actually, she had intended to find a zombie brain this afternoon to impress Oliver, but now she had to admit that she'd been a bit too optimistic about that. She was quickly circled by creatures and started getting slightly nervous. What to do now? She couldn't fight her way through them on her own; for that, she was still too much of a rookie.

"Petra!"

A zombie next to her was smashed to the ground and vanished when she wheeled around and recognized her older brother. "Oliver!"

"Damn it, what were you thinking running so deep into the forest?! This is the fifteenth time in three months!"

Sparing an answer for later, she damaged a spider next to her with her sword and together they made their way out of the forest, stabbing the monsters they couldn't avoid.

"It's not the fifteenth time!" she said finally.  
"Right, the twentieth!"

She stabbed a zombie in the back and gave her brother and angry gaze. "Well then, what are you doing here? Sightseeing?"  
"What about taking my pick-headed sister back home?!" was his answer, while he was literally kicking a skeleton's ass, "You owe me more than one, I'm still counting!"  
"In your dreams!"

Finally, they had made it out of the forest, reached the grassy plain near their home and stopped running. Petra stoke a few sweat-soaked strands aside and looked up. The windows of the cottage were bright alit.

"You don't have to thank me." Oliver commented sarcastically.  
"I had everything under control." she replied, "That was until you showed up! Why would you never give me a chance?! I can fight!"

"Petra, listen for once!" He stopped and faced her. "Hunting monsters in a dark forest at night is not about fighting skills or bravery! Do you have a death wish?! You nearly got yourself killed - again!"

She groaned and crossed her arms. "I was far away from even getting a few bumps!"

"Indeed, it was close to getting your arms ripped out!" Oliver fixed her eyes with his. "Listen, I don't want to suppress you or anything. But there's a very small path between bravery and stupidity. And you definitely crossed it today!"

His little sister let out a heavy breath, stemmed her hands on her hips and tossed her hair back with a move of her head. "And what shall I do then, oh wise brother? Stick to training with dummies and armor stands while you're running around earning titles?!"

"Hold it, I didn't say that!"

"But you thought it!"

"Don't accuse me of things that aren't true!" He sighed, crossed his arms and measured her with an estimating look. "You are right, you're no baby anymore. And you have the talent to become a great sword fighter one day. So... perhaps I should consider starting to train you in the way you deserve it."

Petra was flashed. Her anger about his interruption in the woods faded away. "You really mean that?!"  
Oliver smiled at her. "Yeah, I think so. C'mon, let's get inside. It's getting fresh out here."

Side by side, they approached the cottage - which had gotten a new pasture with two horses in it to it the past days. A dark brown stallion and a blue-silver mare raised their heads when the two siblings went past them.

"I don't get why I'm still not allowed to own a pet while you just bought Bill and Mindy." Petra pointed out, "Don't get me wrong, I like them and all that, but it's just not fair."  
"At last, I'm an adult, sweetie." Oliver joked, "Don't bitter; I didn't make the rules. But I can teach you a little horse riding, if I have the time and you want to."

Petra gave him an skeptical gaze, but smiled briefly. "No hasty promises, brother."

* * *

Thankfully, the rain of the last week had finally passed and one could go outside and enjoy the sunshine again. There were a few reparations to get done on the cottage and the fence of the pasture, which is why the whole family spent almost the entire weekend outside, crafting new wooden planks and fitting them into the broken parts. Some of the roof planks had to be removed as well. So Petra had more than enough to get done and was momentarily kneeling on the grass, repainting the fence when, unexpectedly, a voice called out for her: "Hey Petra!"

She jumped to her feet and turned around to see a blonde-haired girl with blue eyes crossing the meadow at high speed. She waved back enthusiastically. "Hey Lynn!"

Lynn was the daughter of a farmer just across the river that parted these lands, and therefore her indirect neighbor. They had met the first time as little kids when Petra's Mom had taken her to the farmer to trade a few things, and they were like best friends ever since. Countless times they had been caught in the stables, playing in the hay and hunting the chickens. Their creativity had been endless when it came to outside activity - even the pigs hadn't been safe from them.  
But nowadays, as teenagers, Lynn didn't have so much spare time anymore since she was taught a farmer's daily work by her parents. She was supposed to lead the farm on her own one day.  
That was why Petra was even more excited to see her, dropped the bucket wit color and hugged her friend. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking after my best friend, what do you think?" Lynn laughed, "You look brilliant, how are you?"

"Oh, don't you slip on your slime! I'm cool, what about you?"

"Brilliant, now that I'm here!"

"Slime ball!"

Both girls laughed again and Petra softly punched her friend's shoulder. "Hey, do you mind hard work? I need to get this painting done."

"Not at all, give me a paintbrush and I'm your man."

"Woman."

"Whatever."

Giggling, they got to work - of course chatting the whole time while painting. Lynn had a lot to tell about a boy she'd gotten to know last week in town, Petra on the other hand gave a lot of input about horse riding and sword fighting. After finishing the fence, they were allowed a cool drink inside - if Petra knew where to find the drinks. She could bet that her parents had hidden them from her and Oliver until all the work was done.  
Therefore, she ran back outside only to find her mother leaning against the wall of the cottage, completely out of breath. The sight gave Petra a heart attack. "Mom?!"

The red-haired woman opened her eyes and attempted a smile. "Hey darling."

"Are you okay?"

"What? Yes, I'm fine, just ran out of breath for a sec."

"Shall I bring you a glass of water?"

"Oh, that would be nice, sweetheart."

Nodding briefly, the teenage girl rushed inside and returned within two minutes. "Here you go." she said and handed her the drink; she was still concerned about her mother's current state. But she seemed to be a little better after finishing the drink.

"Thank you. Don't worry, Petra, I'm fine."

But a few hours later, Lynn has already gone home, Petra found her worries confirmed. Her mother coughed heavily from time to time and felt weaker than normal after a hard day's work.

"What's wrong, Mom?" Oliver asked when they'd finally made her lay down on the sofa, "When did this all start?"

"Around afternoon, after we were done with the roof." Despite her state, she gave her kids an encouraging smile. "I just need a bit sleep, it's fine. Get something for dinner, I taught you how to cook, Petra, right?"  
"I assume." her daughter answered, "But not as good as you."  
Her mother chuckled and commented "At least I have to defend my rightful place!" while Petra vanished in the kitchen. When she brought her some toast and eggs a few minutes later, she had fallen fast asleep though.

* * *

The water was already overflowing because of the heat, so Petra had to drop the saddle quickly and rushed over to the fire place. Protecting her hands with a towel, she got the teapot on the table and poured the water into two cups. One was for her, the other one for her mother, who was lying on the sofa, covered by a soft blanket.

"Sorry Mom!" she said loud enough that she could be heard in the living room, "Mindy just didn't want to get inside and the weather is awful."

As if to confirm what she'd just said, the wind outside howled even louder and a few rain drops hit the kitchen window. The young woman sighed, put the cups, sugar and honey on a tablet and carried it to her mother who was barely awake. The sight squeezed her heart; the pretty woman who'd given birth to her had lost a lot of weight during fall and her once shiny, red hair was now dull and streaked with grey strands. But she's made it from the bedroom upstairs to the living room today. That was a good sign.

"Hey." Petra spoke up and sat down in a chair next to her, "I've got some tea for you."  
Groaning slightly, her mother opened her eyes, smelled the tea and rose a little from her pillow. "Oh, that's nice, darling."

Her voice sounded so weak and broken, it gave Petra the chills. She put both her hands around the hot mug and enjoyed the smell of the warm tea. "Have you taken your medicine yet?"  
"Yes, I did." the older one answered, waiting for the tea to cool down, "The potion only worsened the headache for the first two hours."  
Petra sighed. "If only I knew how to get around this..."  
"It's allright, don't blame yourself."

But the talking didn't do much good for the sick woman and she had to cough again, putting the mug back on the table with shaking hands. Feeling helpless, the daughter placed a hand on her mother's shoulder. "Okay, it's okay, don't speak. I'll go and get you a pain killer."

She rose from her chair and headed for the bathroom upstairs where they kept all their medicine. She grabbed a small phial with pain killer potion inside, returned to her mother and gave three drops into her tea. "It's going to be allright soon. Listen, I don't want to leave you alone, but I have to feed the horses before the storm is getting worse."

"No apologies, it's fine. Go."

Petra nodded, left the potion on the couch table and went into the corridor where she grabbed her rain jacked before leaving the house. Outside, the wind immediately messed with her hair and rain hit her face; the cap helping not in the slightest. Fortunately, the stable wasn't far ahead but Petra still got soaked. Her jeans trousers stuck to her skin and her boots were full of mud.

"Allright, buddies, ready for dinner?" she talked to the two horses in their boxes while untying a bunch of hay, "Be grateful that you don't have to be outside today. You're spoiled, both of you. You know that?"

But when Mindy rubbed her silver forehead against her shoulder, Petra welcomed the chance for a short hug. She'd grown very fond of the two horses during the last months.  
"Stop weeping." she told the mare a few seconds later and straightened her body, "I have to get back inside."

She quickly checked the water buckets in both boxes, freed the salt stones from hay and gave the animals what they got for dinner today: hay and wheat. For a few seconds, she granted herself a break and watched them enjoying their food. Though she knew there were other duties waiting.

Giving Mindy a short claps on the neck, she left the stable and made her way back to the cottage - where she almost ran into a wet Oliver who was standing right behind the door.

"Woah, hey!" she said in surprise, "Back already?"

"Yes, lucky me. This weather's only getting worse. Where do you come from?"

"Just fed Bill and Mindy before nightfall."

"Oh, you're great! Thanks a lot!"

"No problem."

Both got rid of their stiff, wet jackets and muddy boots. When she looked into the mirror on the wall, Petra noticed her messy hair, watered and full of hay. She sighed; she definitely needed a shower, but this had to wait until later. First, she had to take care of her mother.  
"How's she doing?" Oliver asked silently. Petra let out a long breath and her shoulders dropped. "Not that well, actually. But she made it down here around midday, so that's a good sign."

"I guess."

They got a look in the living room where their mother again had fallen asleep. Petra sighed. "I'm gonna make dinner. You help me?"  
"Of course, tell me what to do."

 **ooo**

It was about half an hour later when their father came back home. Just right before nightfall - the sky was already growing completely black. And he seemed very exhausted.

"Thanks for backing me up, you two." he said at dinner. They ate in the living room, for moving to the kitchen was too much for their Mom.  
"Stop it, Dad." Oliver answered, "I wish we could do more."  
"Me too." Petra agreed, "I was thinking about threatening the doctor."

Oliver's spoon hit his plate with a bright clinging. "This is not funny, Petra!"  
She met his glance without blinking once. "I didn't make fun."

For a few minutes, they just ate in silence, everyone in his own thoughts. Until their father broke it with a announcement: "Listen, I got a new task from my employee. He wants me and George and Fred to go on an... excursion."

"Excursion?" their mother echoed.

"Yes, he's run out of... supplies like cacao and stuff and needs someone to secure them."

"Wait, cocoa?" Petra interfered. "You only get supplies like that from a trader or in the jungle biome."

"Yes... exactly, Petra."

Everyone's jaw dropped, but his wife was staring at him in pure shock. "You must be kidding" she whispered.  
Finn seemed to feel very uncomfortable right now. He reached out for her hand and covered it with his. "Unfortunately, I'm not. We have to be ready to leave tomorrow around midday."

"Wow..." Petra commented, "That's... hardcore." Somehow, her dinner wasn't tasty at all anymore.


	3. (No) Teenage dream - Part 2

**And the next chapter is on. Please be aware, it contains CHARACTER DEATH and DRAMA. As always, reviews would be greatly appreciated. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter three: (No) Teenage dream - Part 2**

It was winter time and Petra's family was... reduced to three by now. Her father hasn't returned from his excursion and, although they all tried to stay positive about it, she felt, deep in her heart, that she wasn't going to see him again. Oliver was working full time in a mine near the town to earn money and it was her turn now to run the household, take care of her mother and the horses and trade groceries on the market. And whenever she could afford it, she took small mini jobs like getting rid of a few zombies in an apple plantation. And, despite she didn't have much time to do any training, her fighting skills were a common knowledge in the neighborhood and even for some towns people. But there was no time to appreciate it. Her seventeenth birthday flew past her like it was nothing and she only realized it because she was remembered by Lynn who'd bought her a present.

So it was, that she took care of her mother and momentarily brushed her hair on an early dark winter evening. Her mother barely said a word anymore, since it was so exhausting for her. But Petra also got the feeling that she didn't have much so say anymore since her dad was... gone. Literally.

"I wonder when Oliver returns." she told her while brushing the red-silver hair, "He should have been back here two hours ago. But maybe it got late at work and he stays in town for tonight. I don't like the idea of him coming home in the dark. But he's too smart for that, don't worry."

Her mother kept her eyes closed and Petra couldn't tell if she was enjoying the attention or was asleep again. She sighed and continued the hair care. It felt somehow good to do it.

All of a sudden, a hasty knock came from the front door and the young woman looked up. Who could that be this late? She rose from the couch, opened the door and found Lynn standing outside, highly nervous. Perhaps because of the overall darkness. "Lynn! What are you doing here?"

"May I come in?" her best friend asked.

"Oh, yes, of course." She closed the door behind her still nervous friend. "Do you want a cup of tea?"

"No, thanks." Lynn almost interrupted her quickly. Her blues eyes were glowing with haste. "You must listen to me."

Petra frowned. "Ahm.. okay. I'm listening."

"You're not going to like this, not at all, but Dad came home from town earlier and told me and I had to tell you instantly! It's... it's Oliver. There was an accident in the mine. Only five came out, the majority is lost. Buried alive! We have to help the people getting them out of there!"

Petra grew paler than marble when she heard that. Her brother... trapped beneath tons and tons of stone?! For a moment, she wasn't able to breathe. Then a plan was formed in her mind. She took Lynn's arms so tight she almost stopped the blood circulation. "Lynn, stay here. Stay here with Mom and take care of her. I'll go and search for Oliver."

Before her best friend could even attempt to protest, she rushed over into the living room, knelt down beside the sofa and took her mother's hand. "Mom? Mom! I'm so sorry, but you have to wake up! Please!"  
It seemed to take an eternity for her, but then the older one opened her tired eyes. "I have to leave. I don't know for how long, but Lynn will look after you. I will come back, I promise!"

Her mother nodded slowly, whispering: "Find him, my great girl."

Petra squeezed her hand in return and placed a soft kiss on her forehead before rushing back into the corridor, slipping into jacket and shoes.

"Petra, you seem half mad!" Lynn said. "What is it you plan on doing?"

"I'll find this godforsaken mine and get Oliver out of there." Hastily, she grabbed a backpack, checked if it had everything in it you needed for a journey and reached out for her iron sword on the wall.

"You want to go into that cave - ALONE?!"

"If I have to."

She placed the sword in her inventory, closed her jacket and fastened the backpack. "Swear me to look after Mom! Keep an eye on her, for me!"

"I swear." Lynn said and took her hand, "Please be careful out there."

"Always."

Without wasting any more time, she stepped out of the door, didn't give a shit about the wind and hurried over to the stable. "Mindy!" she called out while grabbing the saddle, "I need you!"  
The mare kicked against its box wall as it sensed Petra's mood. The young woman had "her" horse saddled within five minutes, got it out of the stable and mounted. "C'mon, girl, we have to reach the town!"

Mindy whinnied and started galloping immediately, allowing Petra only a short last glimpse back to the cottage.

 ***3 days later***

The torches she placed on the left-handed walls were the first light to ever reach this place. She saw coal, lapis and redstone glittering in the walls around her, but she didn't care. She had almost reached bedrock and still no sign of Oliver or his colleagues. The thousands of tons of stone above her made her feel sick, the air was dusty and the overall echoes of monsters kept her in a permanent state of alarming. Approaching again a fork in the road, she stopped and swallowed her panic. She so wished she had a map and a compass with her...

Suddenly, she heard two freaked out screams coming out of the left way - and one of them easily recognizable for her.

"Oliver!" she yelled and rushed forward.

The stone down here was slippery and almost black, which is why she couldn't see every little obstacle in the way until it was too late. She tripped and fell down, her torch going out for a short amount of time. But the adrenaline made her ignore the pain. She ran further, sometimes really tripping on bedrock, when she were suddenly able to spot a person who seemed to be running away from monsters. She couldn't believe it. "Oliver!"

"Petra!" he gave back breathlessly, but before he could reach her, a load of gravel came raining down from the ceiling, parting the two siblings.

"No, Oliver!" she screamed, threw the torch away and started digging. "Hold on, I'm coming!"

"Petra, get the hell out of here!"

She could hear his sword striking down spiders and zombies and digged even harder. "No, I'm not gonna leave you!"

No matter how hard she struggled and how much gravel she removed, it didn't seem to help anything. His screams and the noise drove her crazy. And then she heard it: a high-pitched hiss, Oliver's fearful voice and then the shock wave of an exploding creeper pushed the gravel backwards. Petra fell on the ground, but rose to her feet instantly after the wave was gone. "Oliver!"

No answer. Fear and anger liberated her last powers and she finally managed to break a way through the gravel - facing a real horde of monsters. Screaming at the top of her lungs, she jumped down right into them and her sword knew no pardon amongst the enemies. It stroke zombies and skeletons with such fierce violence that she wouldn't have known herself, if she could have watched the scene right there. At last, she managed to get rid of the monsters, threw a few torches around to light the scene and turned around. "Allright, Oliver, they're..."

The last word was never to be spoken out loud. For she couldn't see her brother anywhere. All she saw was his inventory dancing slowly on the ground - dried flesh, water, torches and his beloved, blue cap. Petra swallowed harshly. "... Oliver?"

Her eyesight went blurry when tears came out and ran over her cheeks. Her face was the depiction of horror. She felt like she had no heart anymore - and, at the same time, it hurt as if she'd been stabbed. This couldn't be real...

Another hiss brought her back to reality and she glanced over her shoulder, quickly wiping her eyes. New monsters were coming up. She couldn't stay here. Nervously collecting the left over inventory, especially the blue cap, she rushed out of the corridor. Thankfully, she had placed her torches on the left hand side, so she just had to keep them right-handed to find her way out. She was too full of fear to completely realize what had just happened.

 **oOo**

Back in town, she only told everyone who asked that she'd found no one. Still in slight shock, she got Mindy back from the guy who'd taken care of the horse during her "excursion", mounted and rode back home. She barely realized the ride - until they came in sight of the cottage. For a storm, it seems, had caused hard damage to the roof of the stable, its doors had been blown open and Bill was nowhere to be seen. The house itself had been harmed as well. What the hell has happened here?!  
Fear in her bones, she stopped Mindy and jumped out of the saddle. The front door was unlocked.

"Lynn? Mom?" she called out, but mere silence responded. "Lynn?!"

She hurried into the living room, finding her mother lying on the sofa, pale as death. "Oh no, no, no!"  
Feeling no own pulse anymore, she threw away her rucksack, fell down on her knees and fumbled her mother's hands into hers. "Mom? Mom! Wake up! Please! Wake up!"

And, miraculously, the older woman inhaled heavily and opened her eyes. "... Petra?"

Her voice was barely recognizable anymore, but Petra soaked it up like a dried sponge. "Oh Mom!"

"You... made it back."

"Yes, I'm here! I'm fine, don't worry. I'm going to look after you."

"... Oliver?"

Petra's face dropped and her mother could read it like an open book. She lowered back into the pillow. "Oh no..."

Again, there appeared tears in Petra's eyes and she lowered her head. "I'm so sorry, I was too late..."

"Don't grieve, my girl. You... acted honorably. It's not your fault." The younger one knew she was right, but it hurt too much to be accepted completely.

"Petra..." her mother called at her once more and she looked up. Her eyes had grown... misty. "Do not... hate me for my selfishness. But you have to let me go too."

The young woman felt like she'd lost all the ground that was left under her feet and she was afraid of the wish she could read in her mother's eyes. "You don't mean that!" she whispered.

"Darling, my time is up. You did a great job on taking care of me... and I'm more proud of you than I could ever say. You've grown to an... astonishing, beautiful woman and I've taught you all I know. It is predestined to you... to be more than just that."

"But I can't do this on my own!" Petra cried.

Curiously, a small smile appeared on her mother's face. "Trust me... you can. The world's going to need you, my girl. Your heart. Your bravery."

"But I don't feel brave at all!" she wept, "I am nothing without you!"

"Darling..." her mother said softly and brushed her finger over her hand, "You are already more than I have ever been. Do not drown yourself in grief... I'll just lay me down to sleep... after a very long, hard day."

Their eyes met and, suddenly, there was an unique understanding of mother and daughter. Petra swallowed heavily, took a few deep breaths and nodded. "I.. I'm just gonna miss you, Mom."

"It's just my turn to leave the stage for my fabulous daughter." she chuckled weakly, "I love you... with all my heart; I always will."

"And I love you, Mum."

Shivering, she placed a last kiss on her mother's forehead and allowed her to touch her cheek with her cool lips. Then she could watch her eyes darken.

"I will look after you." were the last words of Petra's mother before she closed her eyes and, a few seconds later, vanished with a soft _poof_ of white swirls. Hardly realizing what had just happened, the young woman sat back on her heels, touching the couch table as she did so. It was right then when she noticed the paper note on its surface, grabbed it and read: _**Petra, I'm so so sorry about this, but I had to leave. Private emergency, can't explain it. I hope you've found Oliver and have come back unharmed. Please forgive me! Lynn**_

This note, scrabbled hastily on a piece of paper, was the single drop that made the barrel overflow. The strong, red-haired girl slapped her chest onto the sofa, buried her head in her arms and burst into tears. She didn't know for how long she just wept and cried about her pain, but finally the exhaustion took her to sleep.


	4. When I grow up

**And another chapter's on. Not as brutal as the last one, but anyway I hope you like it. ;) Please mark the author's note at the end of the chapter. Comments on the recent events are appreciated.**

* * *

 **Chapter three: When I grow up**

Mindy stood still when Petra put the saddle back on her back and fastened the belt. So it was done with the bridle. Taking a last, long look upon the house she'd spent all of her life time in, the red-haired woman sighed.

She'd awoken the following morning and the cottage had given her the creeps almost immediately. Every single knick-knack in there was soaked with memories of a happy family - a family that didn't exist anymore. She couldn't stand the triggered flashbacks whenever she saw a mere single flower pot, so she rose from the carpet she'd obviously fallen on while sleeping and started packing solely the most important things into her backpack. But first, she had to sort out the useless loot she'd picked up during her cave tour. She only kept what may would come in handy - and she swallowed harshly when she hold Oliver's blue cap in hands. While repeating what happened town in the cave, a strand of her long, red hair fell in front of her forehead and tickled her nose. That was when she couldn't stand her lion mane anymore.

Letting out an outrageous growl, she dropped the cap, grabbed a pair of scissors in the kitchen and cut her hair to a length barely reaching her shoulders; not caring about being more careful than necessary. A few strands at her temples remained a bit shorter than the rest of her hair and teased her skin when she was done, so she got the idea to take up her older brother's "legacy". Taming her hair with one hand, she went back into the living room, took up the blue cap from where it had rested on the floor and bound it tightly around her head. The feeling was strange and unfamiliar to her, but when she looked into the mirror she found it pretty fitting. And she couldn't see why she should turn off the changing.

The young woman grabbed her rucksack and rushed upstairs to her own bedroom where she opened her cupboard. A few T-shirts and trousers found their way into the backpack along with a little basic equipment, except for a blue shirt which she put on instead of the dusty one she'd worn for days by now. She also changed her jeans, which were partly torn and muddy, for a pair of knee-long, deep blue shorts.  
"Much better." she stated, took up the rucksack and searched the other rooms. A few books, her Mom's diary, Oliver's crafting equipment, shampoo and as much food as she could find joined the stuff in the bag. Then it was done. The last thing she packed in was Lynn's note. She didn't know when exactly, but someday she would face her... best friend. Then she grabbed her jacket from the hook on the corridor wall and went outside, where Mindy was still waiting for her, grazing on the nearby pasture.

The grief hurt so much, it almost made her unable to breath. But she knew, she was doing the right thing. This was supposed to be a completely new restart for her. Her mother would want her to be strong.

After she'd made Mindy ready for take off again, she turned around to face the cottage one last time. The damage was heavy and irreparable for one man only. Or woman. There was merely one last thing she could do.

She stepped closely to the front door, pulled out a set of flint and steel she'd found in Oliver's chest and scratched it. Instantly, the door was set ablaze and the fire spread quickly about the wooden hutch. Mindy neighed in alarm and wanted to make a run for it, but Petra quickly reached out for the reigns and somehow managed to mount the panicked horse. Muttering comforting words, she tamed the freaked out mare and watched the cottage burn in fierce flames. For a short time, she was scared by her own radical action; her hands, which held the reigns tightly, were shaking while the fire was dancing in her wide, brown eyes. She shook her head in an attempt to regain control of herself when new tears wanted to burst out.

"It was for the best." she said to Mindy, "Quick and... painless. At least it won't hurt any longer than it has to."  
Taking a deep breath, she pulled her horse around and made it trot forward. Where to now? She didn't know exactly, but it had to be a place that wouldn't be found so easily and where she could take care of Mindy. For a short time, while packing everything together, she'd toyed with the idea to release the mare. But the risks were too high that it was killed by wolfs or other creatures. And, as a fact, the silver horse was now the only living individual that was left of her family. It was her duty to look after it.

* * *

Today, it was market day in town and many traders from neighbor villages and farms had come to sell their stuff. It was not too cloudy, the sun was shining and various people crowded the place, looking for interesting things to buy. But suddenly, a high-pitched scream disturbed the peace and everyone turned around in alarm. A brunette woman hurried out of her house in panic and tripped on the doorstep, quickly followed by a creeper.  
The green monster stumbled down the entrance stairs, bumping into the woman who had fallen down on the last step. Immediately, it started hissing and blinking. Everyone fled in panic when it threatened to blow up, but it never came to that. It was stabbed in the back by an iron sword and was tackled down to the ground, where it poofed up in grey swirls. The brunette one turned around in astonishment to face her savior: a slender, red-haired woman with a blue cap in practical shorts and T-shirt.

"Woah, thank you so so much!" she said gratefully. "You saved my life - and my house!"

The armed woman smirked on that statement, hold out her hand and pulled the other one back on her feet. "Don't worry, you won't have to do a repaint. But I wonder where that creeper came from in the first place."

"Well, I wanted to get a few things from my basement, when I met it on my way downstairs. It had probably spawned in the storage - and there might be more creatures down there..."

Petra put her iron sword back into her inventory and frowned slightly. "Haven't you lit enough torches down there?"

"Honestly, I could swear I did, but perhaps... yeah, perhaps Anny found it funny to remove them! That's exactly what she'd do!"

Petra crossed her arms. "Your friend?"

"My sister!" the brunette woman revealed, trying to get her hair back in place. The armed one raised her eyebrows in mild surprise. "That's not the nice way. But either way, you have to do something about that. If you show me the way, I'll be able to help you."

"You would do that for me?!" the woman asked wide-eyed, "You must be a holy warrior, sent to save the ungrateful race of men from dying out on their own stupidity." Petra slightly shook her hand. "Don't take this too far. Just show me where the basement is."

"Allright then, follow me please." She led the red-haired sword fighter upstairs to the entrance door of her house and opened it, when a voice distracted them: "Carrot head?!"

Petra froze for a second before slowly turning around to face a person she hadn't met for a couple of years by now. But she would always recognize this face; this voice which had bullied her brother. She let out a deep breath. "Make it short, Freddie."

"You really think you're cool just because you jump around with a sword and wear your hair a different way?" the bully snapped, his arms crossed.

"Oh shut it, you don't know anything about being cool. Stop wasting my time, dumbass, you were never worth it."

She wanted to enter the monster-contaminated place, but Freddy wasn't done yet. "Where's your brother by the way, carrot head? How did you manage to get past the line?"

The brunette woman winced in surprise as Petra drew her sword and showed the blade, which was glowing white in the sunlight, to Freddy who backed away. "One more word, you stupid pig. You don't want to feel this."  
"You'd never dare to do that! Hurting an older one!"

"You'd show me way more respect" she hissed, "If you knew all that I have done. Now stop wasting my time!" She turned around to the brunette. "Sorry about this one. Now where did you find the creeper?"

"I'll show you." the woman said, gave Freddy a warning stare and led Petra to the aforesaid staircase.

* * *

One couldn't possibly imagine how much could have changed in only three years. The town has expanded, a lot more people lived there now and different groups of builders had established and challenged each other every now and then to a "duel". The various traders filled the everyday life with - well - life. And the town had been made almost absolutely safe; thanks to a courageous, red-haired woman who's name almost everybody knew: Petra. She was the secret monster-assassin of the town and many people paced homage to her for her brave depts. The black market of ingredients from the nether wasn't complete without her; her prizes were high, but fair. But everyone knew that friendly behavior was the absolute basic for making business with Petra. Messing with her didn't end well for the one who started it.

So it was that, on a cloudy day, the young woman put her saddle on Mindy's back again. The silver mare was absolutely loyal and swift - and she was going to need a partner like this for her next mission. An oriental trader had promised her two diamonds if she got him a few melon seeds and cacti butts. And she knew, she'd get both in or near a temple of the desert biome. Checking her weapons and supplies one last time, she tugged the bags to the saddle, tightened her cap and mounted. Mindy nodded impatiently and trotted forward enthusiastically when she finally got the chance. Reaching the edge of the forest within a few minutes, Petra let her horse gain more speed and enjoyed the fresh gallop and the wind in her hair. She was so glad to have kept Mindy; it was great to have such a partner around.

The forest biome led to a great, grassy plain where Petra just let her run free. It would have taken her days to cover the track on foot, but her partner saved her a lot of time now, besides the companionship and - actually - fun. "I can go the distance..." she sang against the wind, speeded her snorting horse up a little and laughed, as it jumped over a thin but deep abyss in the earth. Oliver had done well to teach her the basics of horse riding. She owed him a lot and beheld her family members in great honor. But the nightmarish grief and pain about their death had finally vanished with time. Her heart may be scarred, but the experiences made her stronger now - and she'd parted from her mother in peace. This had cooled her mind and heart a lot and covered her like an invisible cloak. And it had made her able to laugh again, despite the rare possibilities for fun in her life.

Behind the great plains she came to a marsh biome and then, after a short night's sleep, finally reached the desert.  
"So far, so good." she stated and clapped her horse's neck. The heat made her feel slightly dizzy, but she had enough water supplies for both her and Mindy with her and convinced the mare to a relaxed trot. "Now to find a temple."  
She was confident to find the aforesaid building near the centre of the biome, so she followed her compass - which she'd gotten from a villager who owed her a small favor - northeast. Of course along with enough stops, so Mindy wouldn't overheat too much. She had a responsibility.

Around evening, she'd found a small temple and was highly satisfied. Although it would have been a lot of fun, she rather stayed inside a building for the night in the desert biome. Where she didn't have to worry about Mindy.  
The ruin was made of sand or sandstone and withered by time and weather. But there was still enough material left to fortify the place. "You'll stay in your sand box while I go investigate this place." Petra said as she crafted a quick sand wall alongside the ruin to create Mindy a box. "And no goofing this time, understood? Just stay here; I'll be back soon enough."  
Mindy nodded as if she agreed with that and Petra grinned while rubbing her nose. "Perfect!"

She lit a torch, drew her sword and then started to make her way down into the temple's core. She'd only passed two staircases when she noticed a creepy face-like carving in the stone and recognized it as a dispenser. Immediately stopping, she lit another torch and threw the first one as far as possible into the corridor. She saw massy, withered sandstone all over the place, along with two integrated dispensers on both sides of the passageway and two pressure plates on the ground. One in front of the dispensers and one behind them. Her grin was a cynical one; such an easy call! Tiptoeing quickly onto the first plate, she pulled out a bow and arrow just when the dispensers started to fire arrows themselves. She aimed carefully, let go of the string and her weapon hit the second plate. The arrows stopped instantly. Vóila, path cleared!

Looking out for other traps, she made her way further down to the basement without any further obstacles at all, except a spider that came down from the ceiling. And in the final room she found no less than five chests to loot from. An adventurous lotto win! There she found the melon seeds, cacti butts, wheat, redstone dust and other things that could easily come in handy. Petra was excited and in best mood when she crossed the place to the last two chests, when suddenly a sound as if a button was hit appeared out of nowhere. She stopped immediately and searched her surroundings... she couldn't see anything suspicious, but something definitely wasn't right here...

BOOM! The ground beneath her feet exploded and she fell about five metres deep, letting out a shocked scream. Then her body was smashed against merciless, grey stone and for a few seconds she just laid down there, flushed by adrenaline. Coughing, because of the dusty air she breathed in and the hitch, she tried to move. Nothing seemed to be broken, but something warm was running down her right knee - the whole leg hurt as if it was burning - and her arms were bumped and decorated by little cuts. Her left cheek hurt as if someone had slapped her right into the face. Long story short: she'd just gotten an overall body massage.

Groaning, she lifted her chest from the stone and shook her head. "...Shit!"  
Careful not to make anything worse, she rose to her feet and looked up to where she'd come from. She was trapped in a secret stone room with no escape, except for the way back up. There was nothing for it. At least, the loot she'd gotten from the other chests was still in her inventory and unharmed. As she grabbed a few blocks to build her way up, she noticed that she was limping on her right foot; her knee felt like it had been set ablaze when she put too much weight on it. Hissing, she built her escape route. Wounds like this didn't occur often, but when they did, it never was fun. And now she was limping too, which would slow her down. She was so grateful that Mindy was with her this time.

Swallowing her need to take a break, she finally managed to get back up and retreated upstairs. She had to take care of the wound, but not in a dusty basement full of hidden traps.

She'd almost made it out of the staircase when she met the dispensers again. But now the pressure plates didn't trigger anything when she activated them. There were no arrows shot this time at all - not even when she walked past the dispensers carefully. Suspiciously observing the trap, she took a few steps backwards - and realized the line on the ground just when it was too late. She could hear a clicking sound and then loads of sand dropped from the ceiling as it opened. Yelling in fear, she made a run for it. She jumped up the stairs, adrenaline controlling her very actions, but still the wounds from the basement slowed her down too much. By reaching the last step, she literally threw herself away from the staircase, landing hard on the ground and rolling a few meters.

But she'd made it! The sand-dropping stopped after the last step was blocked completely. Shivering as hell, she got to her feet again, took refuge in Mindy's box and merely managed to get to the backpack on her saddle before her right leg refused to carry her any further. The silver mare was concerned to see her owner and rider falling onto the ground, covered in dust and blood, holding her right leg with both hands and struggling to catch her breath. A few tears fell down from her brown eyes as well, Petra's hands were shaking. This had been so fucking close...

 **ooo**

The ride back home was painful and exhausting for the young, red-haired woman. She'd finally managed to clean the wound around her knee, but still her leg hurt as if it stood in flames and the whole ride she had to miss the stirrups. But somehow horse and rider made it back to the town and Petra handed the trader what he'd asked for.  
"Two diamonds and a melon." she demanded.

"Hey, this is not part of the deal!" the trader refused, but Petra wasn't someone to trade with if she didn't want to. "I got trapped in an exploding basement and nearly got killed by tons of sand for those seeds. The prize has changed."

"Fine, fine, there you go!" the trader grumbled and handed her what she'd earned. Her grin was a very satisfied one. "Nice making business with you."

"Oh, the pleasure was all mine."

Trying to walk normally, she grabbed Mindy's reigns and led her across the central marketplace. She was so ready for home, where she could rest and recover from her wounds. But she was hold back by a handsome, blonde, young man who stopped her near the vegetables stand. "Hey, Petra."

It took her a second, but then she recognized the face. "Ah, Lukas. Hanging around with the _Ocelots_?"

"Well, yes and no, actually. But that's not why I'm talking to you - you don't seem very comfortable, are you okay?"

Petra frowned and her eyebrows moved together. "...Yeah? Shouldn't I be?"

"There's dried blood on your right leg." Not waiting for her answer, he circled the silver horse completely to get a closer look at her wound. Right now, she honestly regretted wearing shorts. "Good lord! This has to be taken care of!"

"I already cleaned it, okay?" she replied angrily and backed away from him. "Don't you dare touch my leg!"

"I didn't intend to." Lukas said, "But I know someone who's really good at healing. He can help you."

"Look, it's... surprisingly kind of you to offer me help... indirectly." Grabbing the reigns tighter, she attempted to continue her way home. "But I can take care of myself, you don't have to play nurse just because of a few bumps."

"Well, THIS is definitely more than a few bumps, so far I can tell. You can barely walk."

"'Barely'?" she repeated what he'd just said. "That's way over the top!"

"Either way. Please, will you come with me? You don't want to risk it getting worse, do you?" Petra groaned in annoyance, but finally gave in. "Fine! If it makes you shut up."

It wasn't the most appropriate or gentle way to get to know each other, but from this day on they got along when they coincidentally met in town. Once or twice, when the builder groups challenged each other, Lukas asked Petra for a little favor - of course with a reward in return. And so, a weird form of business was created between them. Nothing less and - definitely - nothing more.

* * *

It wasn't the best thing to wander around with a wounded knee, but it was only three days later when Petra was walking in the surrounding woods again, searching for a few apples to pick for her and Mindy. The rucksack on her back was disappointingly empty for the two hours she'd been searching yet, but the young woman wasn't someone to give up too quickly. She knew, somewhere there was an apple tree waiting for her. And she should be right on this one.

Near a small body of water, she found a pretty, tall tree with a wide, dark crown and apples in it. Grinning, she started climbing up to where she could find the best fruits. She still felt her right leg protesting at the movements, but the skills of Lukas's friend had really helped her. She would be back in action soon enough.  
Seeking her balance on a thin branch, she approached the first apples and, occasionally, made some of them drop to the ground. This called out on another fellow - someone she didn't expect to meet out there.

It was a pig. Slightly startled by the unfamiliar noise, she stopped reaching out for another apple and looked down. The pink animal stood directly beneath her, enjoying the fallen fruits. She smirked; this wasn't exactly what she'd thought of in the first place.

"Reuben! Reuben, where are you, boy?"

From her high spot in the treetop, she was able to spot another fellow. A black-haired, young man in a white shirt and blue trousers came right her way, circling a few trees in the near environment in search for someone. The pig raised its head, gave a loud _oink_ and jumped up and down in joy, which told Petra everything she had to know.

"Hey, there you are! I told you never to run off in the woods! You could get lost!"  
The black-haired one had no clue that there was a listener above him while he knelt down beneath the apple tree, petted his pig's head and continued talking to it. Petra, in the crown of the tree, tried to keep going with her fruit picking, balanced further on the branch she was standing on and reached out for a very nice, dark red apple. But the shifting of her weight caused her branch to swing and a few other fruits to fall down - right onto the young man's head.

"Ouch!" she could hear him swear and quickly grabbed another branch besides her. "Sorry!"

"Someone up there?"

"No, I'm the tree!" She heard the man's steps when he stood up again and circled the great plant. "Well then, nice to meet you, tree. But I don't consider it funny to be hit with fruits."

"Why not? Saves time for you and annoyance for me."

She chuckled quietly, found that she'd had enough apples for today and climbed down, jumping the last bit of the way. Now she really faced the man and the pig and found them quite a strange couple. Smirking, she fastened the strands of her backpack. "Hey there."

"So you're the talking tree?" the man teased her, but recognition quickly changed his mind. "Wait, you must be Petra! I've heard a lot of you!"

"I don't think I really want to know what exactly you've heard so far." she replied. "But that's my name. And you are?"

"Jesse." They did a short handshake. "And that's Reuben." He pointed on the pig that was standing right beside him and Petra led it touch her hand with its flat nose. "Nice to meet you. Sorry again for the apple-thing, Jesse. I wasn't aiming at you."

"Hey, no problem, I'll survive it." She nodded briefly and gave Reuben a last short pet on the head. "Well, I'll be off then. See you around."

"Off to where?"

She walked past them and only gave Jesse a last glimpse over her left shoulder. "What's it to you?"

* * *

About two weeks later, her body had finally recovered from her adventure in the desert and she was seeking out her next quest. While heading for the central place in town, she talked to Mindy, which she was riding that day again. "What do you mean, girl? Are we going to find a small job?"

They were coming past a pasture with horses when Mindy picked up her ears and whinnied loudly. Petra sat up a little straighter in surprise and looked around. "What's up?" But her silver mare only had eyes for a gorgeous, black horse that had answered her call and came trotting towards them. Petra grinned and crossed her arms, still sitting in the saddle. "I see what you did there, girl!"  
But she had to admit: Mindy's new friend was absolutely stunning. Her partner had a very good taste!

"Avalon!" another voice called out from the other side of the fence and a black-haired boy with freckles appeared on the pasture. "What's the matter with you again? Oh, hey Petra!"

"Hi, ahm... Daniel, right?"

"Yes! Is that your horse?"

"Well, I'm sitting on it." she replied, grinning, "I wanted to ask you the same though, concerning this black one."

Daniel smiled shyly and nodded. "Yeah, Avalon is my horse, along with a few others here on the pasture. Yours is a real beauty, by the way. What's its name?"

"Mindy." Petra answered and petted her horse's head. "Thanks for the compliment."

"They seem to have made friends, she and Avalon."

"Agreed. But we have to get a move on now, sorry. Come on, Mindy."

She attempted to make the mare move on, but it wasn't that easy. Mindy refused to take any other step, ripped the reigns out of her hand and made her dismount more quickly than she'd originally intended to. The soft grass didn't hurt - it was the surprise that stole her breath for a second when she hit the ground.  
"Petra!" Daniel called out. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." The red-haired one watched the silver mare backing away while shaking its head. There was a very new glimmering in its eyes and Petra understood. It now came to her that Mindy obviously hadn't bothered to stay at home when she'd been on one-woman-missions. And now they had to face the consequences.  
Petra sighed. "You're a fool, my girl."

"Excuse me, what are you talking about?"

She chuckled and turned around. "Daniel? Would you mind if there was another horse in your little herd?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean: Mindy would really like to stay with Avalon."

Daniel took a long look at the silver mare in absolute astonishment. "You... you would leave your horse... to me?"

"Yes. Not really willingly, but it's what she wants." Petra stated, taking the saddle off the horse's back. "BUT: I reserve the right to take her for a ride and to visit her whenever I want, understood?"  
Daniel still seemed a bit overwhelmed by her offer, but smiled brightly and opened the gate of the fence. "Of course, she's still your horse. I just take care of her, how about that?"

"Even better! Deal!"

They did a handshake to seal their accord and then Petra finally released Mindy into the pasture. Both horses seemed overjoyed to be together and, although it hurt a little bit, Petra was happy she'd led her mare go. All she wanted was the best for her loyal friend.

Finally in town, Petra around if someone was in need of help or in the mood for a deal. At the moment she couldn't spot anything, but this wouldn't last for long. This was a fact, based on experience. While she had the time, she sauntered around a bit and quickly discovered a poster that hung on a lamp post. It announced a smart event that was going to take place in town next month: **"The Endercon Building Competition"**

* * *

 **Wow, this chapter was more than double the normal size. The next one is also the last one - no need to cry there! I always intended this fanfic to be a short summary of the most significant moments of Petra's past. And the next/ last chapter will be an alternate adventure after Episode 8 (I know it's not released yet but it won't take much influence on the chapter, so that's fine).  
Again, let me know what you think about the chapter in the comments! Wish you a nice day!  
**


	5. Hello, New Order

**Alright, everyone, that's the end of this fanfic. We part with another adventure of our heroes, once they've survived all 8 episodes (and got out in one piece). It was an honor to write for you and I hope you enjoyed your stay here. Let me know what you liked/disliked about the last chapter and espcially the story. Maybe there's a small surprise left in the chapter... ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter four: Hello, New Order!  
**

"Finally a little peace and quiet, don't you think?" Olivia sighed, closed her arms behind her head and rested herself deeper into the armchair she was sitting in. Petra, relaxing onto the sofa besides her, gave her a brief smile and turned another book page over. "For once, I say you're right on this one. I love adventures, but it's nice to have a short break after all we've been through."  
"All YOU have been through, you mean. We were so worried about you, Jesse and Lukas!"  
The redhead led out a deep breath and lowered her book. "We've talked this over soon enough, haven't we? We're fine! All of us! No need to warm it up over and over again.""I know! Just give me another week and I'll be totally chilled."

The two women shared a short glance and then continued their relaxing. But it didn't last as long as they'd expected. For only five to ten minutes later, a loud knock came from the door to the tiny living room they sat in and Jesse appeared in the door frame. "Hey, girls."

Petra looked up from her book and met his green eyes. "Jesse! What's up?"  
"Are you alright?" Olivia asked, fixing her pigtails.

"Yes, I'm fine. But what about you?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well, not sure how to put this one... Are you interested in another excursion?"

Petra mirrored his promising grin, closed her book immediately and rose from her couch. "Did I hear _'adventure'_ in there?"  
"You're unbelievable, Petra!" Olivia pointed out, but she was smiling as well when she came to her feet. "So, what are the clues, Jesse?"  
"I'll tell you on our way downstairs" he promised, held the door open for the two young women and they made their way to the first floor together. "Lukas has returned from town and claims, a trader's given him a secret map that contains the location to a hidden temple in the jungle biome."  
"Seems legit enough" Petra stated, giving him a short smile. "Where are the others?"  
"Already in the entrance hall. You're the last ones." "Very charming."

As expected, they met Axel and Lukas right at the front door. After the Witherstorm had been destroyed and they'd become the new _Order of the Stone_ , they had restored the old temple and built themselves a nice, modest mansion besides it. It wouldn't have been right to live in the temple, although the "old" heroes had allowed them to do so if they wanted to. But it was an ancient monument for them, worth beholding and not using, except for special missions.  
The mansion had been their own decision as well, for as a full team it was the easiest and most comfortable way to live and not only work with each other. The old _Order of the Stone_ was the perfect example for what could happen if there didn't exist any form of companionship; and in the new order, fortunately, it definitely existed. Everyone owned his or her own part of the mansion, which was nothing more than a two-storied, U-shaped house with a rather flat roof and a nice garden in the middle of the ground. Directly behind it, a soft hill rose, lined with woodland. A great place to live - especially for a group of people who'd started out as ordinary villagers.

"Hey, guys." they greeted their teammates at their arrival. Petra was the first one to get down to business. "What happened in town, Lukas?"  
"It was kinda weird, actually. This guy seemed somehow nervous, but he honestly claimed we had to explore the jungle biome, for there should be an ancient, hidden temple with a great treasure within. Then he gave me this map and excused himself."

He pulled out a withered, fragile peace of parchment with a hasty drawing of a certain biome on it. The partly blurred lines had been drawn with black ink; in the upper right corner there was a compass that pointed north and on the left-hand side in the middle of the biome there was a great X. Everyone got a quick look at it and Petra stated: "Worth a shot, I guess. I haven't been to the jungle biome before."  
"Me neither" Jesse agreed with her. "So let's seek out for the hidden treasure?"  
"Count me in!" Axel grinned enthusiastically and Lukas nodded.  
"Only one little problem" Olivia held them back, "The jungle biome's too far ahead. We can never go the distance on foot." In Petra's head, there appeared the melody of a very well known song: 'I can go the distance...' And eventually, she knew what to do. "Let's get some horses then! I know someone who still owes me a favor, let's go!"

 ***Two hours later***

Mindy was overjoyed to see her owner once again and rubbed her head on Petra's shoulder as if she was about to cuddle her to death. Laughing, the red-haired woman returned the hug, petted the mare's forehead and toyed with its mane. "It's nice to see you too!"

"You never mentioned you owned a horse, Petra" Jesse stated from behind her, from where he was watching the scene together with the other fellows, leaning against the fence of the pasture with horses. She briefly glanced over her shoulder and shrugged. "There was no chance to, was it?"  
"Good point."  
She gave her mare a last pet before she turned to Daniel who was standing near her, trying to tame a nervous, brown horse. "You did a great work, Daniel! She looks brilliant!"  
"Thanks for the compliment; but I've barely had such a kind, fine horse so far."  
"You tease me. Now to business; we're not all here for fun, remember?"

Daniel finally got the bridle on the horse's head and nodded. "So far I was informed. What is it, you need?"  
She grinned and crossed her arms. "Well, horses, in fact. We're going on an excursion that's gonna lead us to far ahead to go the distance on foot."  
"No problem there. I've got enough good horses here for all of you. Just come in here and find out which one's the right one for you."

"Ahm.. 'find out'?" Olivia repeated. "What's up with that?"  
"One cannot simply put a saddle on a random horse and expect everything to be just fine." Daniel explained to her. "Every horse has a mind, behavior and character of its own. It has to fit the one of its rider to make a good couple; and you're going to need fitting partners for an excursion like that."  
"Oh... I see." the black-haired one agreed with him. "I'm... just not an animal expert. But let's see."

The new Order of the Stone opened the gate of the pasture and separated in search of an appropriate horse. Only Petra stayed with Mindy, for she would ride her own horse for sure. "Petra?" Daniel called out on her. "Won't you go on this excursion yourself or why aren't you looking for a partner?"  
"I've already found one" she replied, petting the mare's neck.  
"Well, but we have a little problem there." Daniel said reluctantly.  
"What problem? Is she sick?"  
"No, not sick, don't worry. Just... pregnant."

Petra's face fell when she heard that and she looked at Mindy more closely. She couldn't spot anything unusual, even the bally wasn't bigger than normally. "How can you tell?"  
"There's a few typical manners she'd shown lately and I did a test, which turned out positive. So... I'm afraid you can't take her." Daniel really seemed to be sorry, but there was nothing anyone could do about it. The young woman sighed and gave her silver mare a disappointed glance. "You're a talent, you know that?"

"Let me tell you what." the keeper of the horses interfered. "Why don't you take Avalon? You're a good rider and I know he needs a strict hand. There's a good chance for you to become a good team."  
Petra turned around in surprise. "You would leave your own horse to me?"  
"As I said, I trust you. And you did the same once for me, remember?"  
"Yes, you're right!"

They slaughtered around a bit until they found the stunning, pitch black stallion at the upper right corner of the pasture, enjoying the fresh grass beneath his hooves. Petra was still a bit overwhelmed by getting this great chance to ride this black beauty. "Hey, boy" Daniel greeted the relaxed stallion, grabbed a few strand of its mane and pulled the bridle over its head.  
"You ready for an adventure?" the woman asked and held out her right hand for the stallion to touch it with its nose. "Think we can make friends?" She was measured by an intelligent pair of eyes, but in the end Avalon nodded, snorting in anticipation. Petra smiled and petted its forehead while taking the reigns from Daniel who put the saddle on his horse's back. "You've got a very clever horse there."  
"Thanks for the compliment. Let's see how it's going by the others."

They found the rest of the _Order of the Stone_ finished already; the horses they'd chosen standing beside them. Jesse's made partner with an athletic, white horse that seemed pretty funny, Axel on the contrary stayed with a comfortable, brown one. Olivia's tanned horse had a bright, clever look and danced nervously when forced to stand still and Lukas's new partner was of a bright, sandy color and not easily startled. Daniel grinned confidently when he did a quick look around. "Excellent choices! I'll just give you the right saddles and then: off you go!"  
So Petra grabbed Avalon's reigns tighter, placed her left food in the stirrup and mounted while the others quickly prepared their four-legged friends for take off and mounted as well. "Why are you not riding your own horse, Petra?" Olivia asked, still feeling a bit uncomfortable on a horseback.  
"She's unavailable at the moment" was the red-haired one's answer, "A pity, but there's nothing for it." Finally, Daniel opened the gate and waved them goodbye while they rode away from the pasture, to new adventures.

 **oOo**

About one hour later, they'd reached the outskirts and headed for the woods around the town. The horses held their ears picked and enjoyed the fresh ride, pretty satisfied with their riders. At least for the moment. It was right then, when a building appeared in the distance, but it was no eyesight to behold. Not at all. It was a ruin.

"Good lord!" Olivia called out and made her horse go faster, along with the others. "What happened here?"  
The small cottage was completely withered and black - obviously from a fire that had raged around here. The roof was barely left, only two walls stood as a whole. Everything else had been smashed to the ground. "Let's see what we can find out." said Jesse, all of them dismounted and spread around the place to look for clues. Except for Petra. Personally, she struggled not to act suspiciously.

She'd left this cottage when it was brightly set ablaze, expecting it to burn down completely, leaving nothing behind. Though the main parts had remained. Like the monuments of a broken past.  
Inside the ruin, Olivia, Axel and Jesse searched the burnt wooden planks while Lukas went for the destroyed stable. It was a depressing sight; nothing was untouched by flames. The furniture was barely recognizable and moss and grass has spread all over the place, already beginning to regain the realm of nature.  
"I wonder who might have lived here." Jesse stated, getting an answer from Axel: "Well, he's definitely gone by now."  
"That's rude, Axel!" Olivia called out on him. Only Petra remained silent, wandering around in deep thought.

After a few minutes of quiet tinkering Jesse spoke up again, making her lifting her head: "Hey, look at this!" He's found a broken picture frame within the burnt planks and analyzed the piece of paper that was left of the photo.  
"Looks like a family portrait." was Olivia's guessing. "Two adults and one child. Is this red spot in the lower right corner a person too?"  
"Not sure, perhaps the youngest child?"  
"Possible?"  
"Can't believe they're all dead." Axel commented, rubbing his head. Olivia nodded. "Maybe one of them has made it? The kids?"  
"That would make two of them then."  
"Anyway -"  
"I'll meet you guys outside." Petra spoke up all of a sudden, met her companions' surprised looks and left with quick steps. And, by the swirl of her flat, red hair, two of them understood. Or thought, they understood. "I'll go have a look at her." Jesse said, handed the picture frame to Olivia and followed his teammate. In the background, he could hear Axel ask: "What's going on here?" But he didn't pay attention.

He found Petra by the horses, checking her stallion's saddle belt. Most people would believe that she was deeply chilled, but Jesse knew better by know. Her brown eyes were restless and her fingers nervous. "We shouldn't have stopped here."  
Petra looked up when she heard his voice and rested her right hand on her horse's neck. "Why?"  
"Petra, come on. This place has something to do with you, I've got eyes."  
"Never denied that. Would be strange the other way around, wouldn't it?"  
"Please, changing the subject won't change anything. What I want to know is: Are you okay?"

Petra sighed and looked away. "Yes, I'm fine."  
"Really?"  
"Listen, you don't want to hear the whole story. Trust me."  
Jesse knew very well that it was of no use to force his teammate to anything. Petra was a very proud character, someone who's trust wasn't easily earned. And he didn't want to risk it. "Well, if you want to talk, you know where to find me." he said and gave her the space she needed, walking off to the withered stable in search for Lukas.

For about ten minutes they continued their search and Jesse was about to explore a broken window, when Petra caught up with him again. She seemed uncomfortable, but calm. "You still wonder what happened here, right?"  
He simply shrugged and met her eyes. "We will never know, will we? But it seems like a horrible accident."  
"You have no idea."  
"But you have, right?"  
Petra let out a deep breath , crossed her arms and looked at the black planks. "I do. I burned it down myself."  
Jesse's green eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

So Petra told him everything there was to know about this cottage, in which she'd spent the first eighteen years of her life. She told him about her parents and brother - and how they had disappeared forever. "It wasn't easy to get over it for the first time, but I did it. I burned the cottage, because it was a restart. Not because I don't want to be remembered of my family."  
Jesse, who had been listening quietly, nodded briefly. "I... I can't say I really understand what you've been through, for I didn't lose my parents like you did. But I can see why you reacted the way you did. And why you've become the amazing person you are."  
She grinned slightly and shook her head. "Don't you slip on your slime. I simply did what I had to do."  
"And that's what makes you so amazing."

At first she wanted to protest again, but Jesse turned away from her and started searching his inventory, stepping closer to the burnt ruin while doing so. Wondering what that was about, Petra followed him and looked over his shoulder - to watch him placing a sign on the ground and doing an inscription: _**"In memory of a loving family - bonded through time and space"**_

This warm gift, great in its modesty, touched Petra's heart in more ways than one. She struggled to suppress a few tears and quickly wiped her eyes. "You're the nicest idiot I've ever met!"  
"Wow, thanks a lot!" Chuckling in amusement, he took the chance and pulled his teammate into a warm hug. A nice gesture of friendship. "Thank you for telling me."  
"No, thank you for listening." They shared a short smile, then Petra pulled herself together again. "Well, we should definitely move on."  
"I think so too. You search the stable, I the cottage?"  
"Agreed!"

Together, they regrouped the new _Order of the Stone_ , mounted and set off again. For Petra, it felt like a long forgotten task was crossed off her life-time to-do list. After two years, she had finally told someone about her past. And her slight, secret smile was an honest one when she convinced Avalon to a short gallop across the grassy plain.

* * *

They reached the jungle biome after a three-days journey and stopped their horses in astonishment when the first, gigantic trees appeared in front of them. The plants were taller than every building ever made, the ground was muddy and deep from the huge amounts of rain and the thicket impassable. Various noises by diverse animals reached their ears and Petra considered it even louder inside the forest. She fixed her blue cap, which had attempted to slip off her head, and turned to the others. "Impressive, isn't it?"

"You can say that again." Olivia responded. "How are we ever supposed to find our way out there once we got in?"  
"Don't forget: We've got a map with us." Lukas calmed her down.  
"But I'm still allowed to be worried, right?"  
They chuckled, Jesse shook his head and made his white horse trot forward again. "Optimistic as usual, Olivia."  
"Right, let's get to business."

The new _Order of the Stone_ followed the blackhead's lead into the jungle, especially since he was the one with a pair of scissors. Otherwise it would have been much more of a pain to get anywhere on horseback. It already was an adventure to lead the animals on the thin path without risking anyone slipping or tripping on the numerous, thick roots of the trees. Furthermore, the wet air was nothing to ignore. For the heroes were used to the fresh, dry air of their home region - to them, it didn't feel like breathing at all; more like filling their lungs with invisible water. Their bodies tried to compensate the warm temperatures by lifting the sweat-level. It didn't last an hour and all of them felt like being trapped in a closed soup pot.

Petra could feel Avalon struggle to keep moving on the deep, muddy ground and petted his neck in an attempt of comfort. "Don't worry, boy. We're fine."  
"Hey, guys! Wait for me!"  
All of them pulled the reigns to make their horses stop and looked behind. Obviously, Axel's horse refused to go any further and made his rider pain by not moving forward, no matter how hard he tried. "C'mon, move it, you stupid brat!" But the brown animal was as stubborn as its rider, shook its head and stuck its hooves to the ground. Petra couldn't help but start laughing. "Cursing won't help anything, Axel! He's stronger than you!"  
"We'll see about that!"  
Meanwhile, the others had started laughing as well at the sight of Axel struggling to win against his horse. Petra raised her left hand to wipe away the sweat on her forehead, when all of a sudden her own partner was startled by anything and made a great jump to the left that almost made her fall off. She let out a surprised scream.

"Petra!" Jesse called out. "You okay? What is it?"  
"Don't know!" she gave back, grabbing the reigns tighter. "Woah! Calm down, boy!"  
But Avalon started prancing, fighting her grip and snorting heavily. The whiteness was visible in its eyes when it raised its head, its ears completely flat. Petra understood and followed its look to the right. The other horses started behaving curiously as well - and she knew why. "Ocelots!"  
"They all stayed in town, I asked Maya!" Lukas gave back and Petra groaned in annoyance. "Not them! REAL Ocelots!"

Right when she said that, the sand-colored predator jumped out of the bush, letting out a fierce meow. Their horses got completely mad at the big cat, making them more useful than their riders. Jesse's horse was able to give the ocelot an angry kick in the bally, but it were four of them attacking the group simultaneously. Petra saw Lukas draw his sword in all the chaos and strike of the cats, but she was unable to do anything. Avalon was stroked by fear so hard that it rose in panic, pulled the reigns out of her hands and fled sideward into the undergrowth. Struggling to hold on to its mane, Petra was hit by numerous branches, her horse made a risky jump over a mossy log and stumbled down a bushy hill right behind it.

"Easy, easy!"

She tried to do anything, but when her horse tripped on a sleeping snake's tail and the animal started hissing in anger, it was too late. Avalon performed a great jump in fear, causing her falling off its back and further downhill. Her face was hit by claws-like thorns, she felt her T-shirt being torn open and her back meeting sharp rocks. Flushed by shock, she merely tried to keep her head from injuries by covering it with her arms, until - suddenly - she dived into water. Suppressing the need to snap for air, she pulled herself together and swam back to the surface. It was the best feeling in life when her head got pushed out of the water and she inhaled heavily a few times, coughing directly after filling her lungs with air. Her whole body cried in pain, she wiped her eyes and looked around. Avalon was nowhere to be seen.

"Petra!" she heard the voices of Olivia and Jesse calling out for her and she spotted them making their way downhill, leading their horses in the reigns. Groaning, she swam towards them.  
"There you are, are you hurt?" Jesse asked, taking her hand and pulling her out of the water. She shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Anyone seen Avalon?"  
"What? No, we were looking for you after chasing away the ocelots."  
"I'm never wearing this jacket again." Lukas stated, taking off his leather jacket. Olivia crossed her arms. "Don't be ridiculous! Petra's lost her horse, that's much more important."  
"We're never gonna find it in here. Try finding a frightened horse in this mess of wood."  
"Not helping, Axel." Petra commented, squeezing the water out of her red hair. "Avalon is Daniel's private horse. We have to find him!"

"Well, but not today I guess." Jesse spoke up, measuring her torn, soaked appearance. "You have to get redressed. Either way, I think instead of Avalon you've found something else."  
The red-haired woman gave her teammate a confused look, then turned around to see what he was focusing on and understood. Within a gap between two trees and undergrowth, the top of an ancient temple was visible. She gasped in surprise. If this wasn't a crazy coincidence!  
"You've got talent, Petra!" Olivia joked, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Now that is... convenient?"  
"Doesn't matter if it's convenient or not!" Axel interrupted. "Let's go check this out, right?"  
Jesse nodded. "Right, that's why we're here!"

Petra hesitated for a second, but then she followed the others who'd already begun making their way around the lake and to the temple. It would be useless to search for Avalon in this current state; also, the horse would start looking for its companions once the panic was gone. At least, she wanted to believe that. She couldn't stand Daniel's face, if she had to tell him that Avalon had gone lost in the jungle.

 **oOo**

The great, ancient temple was even more withered than the one Petra's seen in the desert biome ages ago. Its carved, grey stone was overgrown with ivy, ranks of exotic flowers and dark green plants spread out of every break within the walls. The entrance door was almost invisible because of all the hanging tendrils. And the staircases almost not passable on foot.

"Woah, someone definitely has to take care of the garden around here." Axel commented on the eyesight in front of them.  
"You're ruining every situation possible, Axel!"  
"Chill down, Olivia." Jesse cooled her down. "I was thinking about something similar."  
"I think we should leave the horses here." Petra took down her cap to squish the water out of it and spotted a log of a fallen tree that blocked half of the staircase a few stairs further. "They can stay right here, bound to the log. We leave everything they need, get the treasure from within and then go searching for Avalon. You fine with that?"  
"No problem there. Let's get started."

Together, they bound their horses to some smaller side branches that had remained at the great main trunk. Axel's brown animal showed itself as stubborn as its rider once more and refused to get bound for a few minutes, but with the help of Petra - as she had no horse to take care of at the moment - it was quickly convinced to cooperate with them. They left a few water buckets, wheat and apples with them, so they wouldn't suffer from hunger and thirst while their riders were absent. And that was it.

"Ready for exploration?" Jesse asked everyone and got enthusiastic nods and smiles in return. "Ready when you are!" "Let's go!"  
Prepared to face anything within the building, the blackhead stepped forward, took one of the door-handles and pulled it backwards. Opening the heavy, dark wooden door, they were greeted by a gigantic hall. Everything was withered and overgrown by plants, but more majestic and full of dignity than anything they have seen for a long time. A few beams of the setting sun found their way through breaks in the ceiling, the broken stone lying on the ground and covered with knee-high grass. The well hidden windows laid beneath a blanket of black dirt and dust, so no sunlight could enter through them. Nevertheless, Petra was flashed by this relict of a forgotten age for the first seconds.

"We should look out for traps. No matter how... nice it is here." she finally managed to call out on the others.  
"Speaking of which," Lukas spoke up and all of them turned around to face him. "There's a leaver over here. Shall I switch it or not?"  
"Any dispensers around here?"  
"Haven't seen any." Axel stated and Jesse agreed after having a quick but sharp overlook himself. "None of them here."  
"I can't see any redstone tracks as well." the black-haired hobby engineer mentioned. "So it's worth a shot, I guess."  
"Alright then, Ladies and Gentleman, fasten your seatbelt please."

The leaver was pulled and, for a few seconds, one could hear a distant clicking and ringing before the noise came to a sudden end. Petra rolled her eyes in amused annoyance and crossed her arms. "Lukas, don't make a - FUSS!"

She could do nothing else but scream in surprise when, all of a sudden, a trapdoor right beneath her feet clutched open and she fell down into black nothing, along with the others. Half of the hall ground must have revealed the secret door. But she didn't fall on massive stone as nearly expected - she hit a gigantic slideway that drove her deeper and deeper into the darkness. Behind her, she could hear her companions scream and try to communicate, but she was too far ahead to understand a single word. After felt two minutes of sliding, she hit a horizontal ground and rolled the last meters. Every inch of her body was complaining about the rough landing, but she was able to stand up and lit a torch.

"Everybody-!" she started calling, but right then her companions came sliding through and landed right before her very toes, one over another, "- do the flop."

A few weeks ago, she never would have commented like that on a situation like this, but her teammates were obviously rubbing off on her. Groaning and rubbing diverse limbs, the new _Order of the Stone_ got up again. Lukas's hair was a complete mess, Olivia had to recollect most of her inventory stuff and Jesse seemed like he'd been given a few nice side bumps. She lifted the torch to light the scene as good as possible. "You all okay?"  
"Yeah, but I've seen politer invitations." the blonde one replied, trying to tame his hair. "What is this place?" Olivia asked.  
"Only one way to find out."

Placing the already lit torch on the left-handed wall, Petra set another one ablaze and as a team, they made their way further down the hallway, always aware of possible traps. But nothing happened, until they came to another underground hall where a few monsters hung around. While Olivia took care of setting light to the hall, the others dealt with the unwelcome company, revealing another trap door on the ground. It was easily recognizable this time, freshly closed it seemed. And... was Petra hallucinating or did she really hear a muffled voice?

"Axel, would you give the leaver a try, please?" Jesse asked his friend, gesturing to the others. "Anybody, stand back from the door."

Axel switched the leaver on the wall, quickly backing away from it as the secret door began to open right where he stood. Olivia grasped his arm to pull him out of reach and, within seconds, the door was open. What they discovered, gave them the creeps. It was a hidden room, entirely built of obsidian. Once trapped, there was no coming out - proven by countless bones and skeletons all over the place, sitting in the corners or lying on the ground. And within this horrific mess, there were two men. Clothed in long worn clothes which were more torn than whole, with messy beards and skinny as the skeletons around. For a few moments, they thought they were dead, but this would be beyond all the physics of their world.  
Then, one of the men moved. Misty, dark eyes blinked against the orange, flaming light of the lit torches when he heavily lifted his chest to sit up. "What? Is this light? Am I dead? At last?"

They barely understood what he said, his was voice was shaky, unstable and hoarse. But, for some reason, it sent a chill down Petra's spine. She felt like she knew this voice. Careful not to lose grip, she stepped closer to the edge of the trap door. Inevitably, she met the ghosty look of the man below her and stared back in bewilderment. The man's black (no - green!) eyes widened - before narrowing in confusion. "Who... are you?"

And Petra understood. From one second to the next, every feeling possible rushed through her body. Her head stopped working. If it hasn't been for Jesse to hold her back at the last moment, she would have fallen right down there. But in one strong move, she winded out of his grip. "DAD!" All of her companions looked at her in pure shock and confusion, but she didn't care. Never had she been heard screaming so wildly. But this couldn't be possible.  
Running to the other side of the trap door, she pulled out a bucket of water from her inventory, placed it on the ground and flooded down into the room with the waterfall. "Petra!" "Are you mad?!" "What are you doing?!"

All the voices from above didn't matter for her, she landed on her feet and knelt down beside the man, not feeling the water soaking her boots and socks. The blackhead momentarily forced himself to sit up straight and she took his hand, pulling him up. Brown eyes met darkened, green ones. She recognized the hair, the face, the very movement of his eyebrows. She couldn't believe it. "Dad?"

"Petra? Is that you?"  
Her throat felt curiously thick and she could feel tears rising to her eyes. "Yes, it's me!" "Bless me... the gods must've sent me an angle..."

"Petra!" She could her splashing water and looked over her shoulder. Jesse has come after her, taking care of the unconscious man not to drown. "Is that...?"  
The red-haired fighter simply nodded, clearing her throat. "We have to get him out of here."  
"Both of them."

Her father weakly strengthened his grip around her wrist and forced her to look at him. "There is no way out. This room is made of obsidian, you cannot go out."  
"Trust me, we can! Come on, get to your feet, I'll help you!"

Supporting the skinny, half-dead person who was her father, Petra stood up and started swimming up the waterfall. It was more a struggle than real swimming, for her father couldn't do anything else than holding on to her, but she did it and many helpful hands waited for them. "Chill, I've got this." "Get them out, quickly!" "Hold on, Jesse!"

Coughing, Petra remained kneeling on the withered stone for a second, catching her breath. She saw Axel holding out a hand for Jesse, who had chosen so safe the other man as well, while Lukas and Olivia took care of her father. He was alive - close to death, but alive! It was all too much for Petra, but she could catch up with the hangover when they were home. Knelling down beside Lukas, she took Olivia's part.  
"Good call to set up enough torches." the blonde one stated, "It's already past nightfall, the moon's coming out. No need to worry for monsters here."  
She helped her father to sit up again, barely noticing her shaking hands. "You hear that, dad? We're fine!"  
"Wait... young boy..." the blackhead spoke up, looking at Lukas, "Did you say 'moon'?"

The _Ocelot_ nodded slowly, when, behind them, the reason for the man's worry revealed itself. Axel, Olivia and Jesse quickly backed away from the other man who suffered fierce, painful cramp attacks. His groaning and screaming made Petra sick. Subconsciously, she stood up and drew her sword to protect her father. "What's going on here?!" "What is it?" "Can we do anything?!"

"Run... all of you!" her father dragged them. "He's a werewolf!"  
Petra's blood froze. "A werewolf?!"  
"Get out of here - now!"  
"Come on!" Olivia called out, grabbing Axel's hand and making a run for it immediately. Lukas and Jesse were right behind them, but the last one looked back, watching Petra taking up her father. He wasn't a feather after all, but light enough to carry. "Petra, leave me here and go at once!" he refused, but there was determination glowing in his daughter's eyes. "No! I won't abandon you again!"

"Run, Petra, I've got your back!" Jesse secured her, fleeing right behind her. Until they met up with the others at the slideway.  
"How are we supposed to get up there?" Lukas asked. "It's impossible to climb."

The black-haired hero stopped and looked around breathlessly, searching for any clue possible. From behind them, they could hear a deep, fierce growling and clashing claws scratching on stone. Olivia's face was the incarnation of fear. "A werewolf?!"  
"I've already gotten used to pray for this day." Petra's father spoke. "That was until you showed up."  
"Guys!" Jesse called out right at this moment. "There's water behind this wall! We must break through and swim our way out, help me!" Working together, they broke a way through the stone, meeting new water. "Let's go! We meet up at the surface!"

* * *

The camp fire in the middle of their improvised tree house was small, but warm and welcome. Petra sat directly besides her father, who'd gotten a shirt and trousers from Lukas for his "clothes" were more or less torn cloths. Her teammates sat a bit aside to give father and daughter the privacy they needed. And she was grateful for that. She'd allowed Jesse to tell the others about the burnt cottage's history, but he had to make clear that she didn't want any kind of pity. The past was in the past. But this was something different.

"I'm so sorry, Dad" she muttered quietly.  
"Sorry for what?" In the light of the flames, she met her father's eyes.  
"I've abandoned you! For two years, I never came looking for you! God, I've given you up for death..." She wasn't someone to cry so easily, but right now she felt like it. There was so much guilt loaded on her shoulders.

"Petra, darling." Finn spoke up and softly touched her cheek. "You've got nothing - you understand? - nothing to blame yourself for! We're both alive! That's more than I was hoping for!"  
"But I should have searched for you! I should have done something! And instead I wasted my time hunting monsters..."  
"You didn't waste your time, don't even think that. You've become an astonishing woman; I couldn't be prouder of you! Tell me, who are your new friends?"  
"Well, the blonde-haired one near the fire is Lukas, besides him there's Olivia, Axel, and the black-haired one is Jesse." The last one coincidentally looked her way in this moment, gave her a short smile and nodded before turning to the conversation again.

"And how did you get to know them?" her father wanted to know.  
"Oh, that's a long story" she joked, straightened her back and started telling him about their first great adventure. How they defeated the Witherstorm, how she got sick and, eventually, how they became the new _Order of the Stone_. At this fact, her father nearly spilled his tea. "You're _what_?"  
"We didn't actually replace them, if that's what you mean. We're... just the new generation, if you want so."  
"But that means..." Her father quickly re-scanned her teammates. "Yes! You must have replaced Gabriel the Warrior?!"

Caught by surprise, Petra needed a second to find an answer to that. "Well... we haven't thought about that yet. But... I guess so, yes."  
Her father shook his head, laughing in pure astonishment. "My girl... your name will pass into legend. If it hasn't done it yet."  
"Dad-"  
"Don't bother denying it! You've done great!"  
"We all have done great! There's a difference."  
Finn smiley warmly. "And you've gained real team spirit. I'm so, so proud of you!"

Petra's cheeks turned slightly red and she took a sip from her own tea cup. She simply wasn't someone to celebrate what she'd arrived in live. For a few minutes, they just sat beside each other and enjoyed the warmth of the camp fire, listening to the snorting of the horses beneath them. Then, her father spoke up again: "What about your mom? And Oliver?"

Petra's stomach dropped to the ground and the joy vanished from her face. She slowly placed the cup on the ground, not daring to look at her father. "They... they're gone."  
Unexpectedly, Finn didn't show any kind of reaction. Just a simple question: "How?"  
"It... began a few months after you'd left. Mom... just got sicker and Oliver started working in a mine near the town. One day there was an accident in the mine, sealing him in a cave. I went looking for him, forced my way down there to safe him, but I was too late. We were separated by loads of gravel and he fell to a creeper before I could reach him." Again, tears wanted to pour out, but she blinked them away. "When I returned home, Mom was at the edge of death. I got to speak a few last words with her before she passed as well."

Shyly, almost fearfully, she measured her father's motionless face. "I'm so, so sorry... about everything! All I wanted was to keep them safe - and I was too late! For both, I was too late!"  
"No." Finn responded, meeting her stare. "There is neither guilt nor fault on you. It had been time for her to leave... a release from her pain. And the last thing Finn knew was that you had come to his aid when he needed it the most. Your acts were no failure - they were heroic."  
"But I failed! They are dead, because of me!"

His green eyes were irritatingly calm. "Did you kill them yourself?"  
"...No. Of course not."  
"It's of no use to bother about the 'what if'. It will only distract you from your future. And especially yours is about to shine brighter than the sun."

At first, she refused to see the truth in his words, but when she met his eyes again, she experienced an unique understanding that could only exist between parents and kids. "Be at peace with yourself, Petra. Life goes on."

* * *

It still was a little irritating for her to sit on another one's horse and being dragged along like a package, although Jesse's secured her that he was totally fine with that arrangement. But she wasn't fine at all. Sighing heavily, she looked down to her father, who stood right beside the white horse. "Are you really sure?"

"I am, darling. I don't belong there anymore. Not here as well. I have to find my new place in life, after you've given me a second chance to."

Petra didn't feel well about this at all, but she respected her father's decision. "Where will you go?"

"I do not know. But wherever I be, I will always remember you. All of you." He gave everyone of them a grateful smile. "You're a worthy generation of heroes."

"And we have to thank you." Jesse spoke up, "For your daughter. We would've been in a lot of trouble without her."  
"Slimeball!" Petra called out, softly punching his arm. Finn laughed in amusement. "Look out, she's a hot ball of temperament!"  
"We're trying to cool her down as long as possible."

They shared another laughter, but Petra knew that the time to part had now come. She sighed and took her father's hand one last time. "I wish you all the luck in the world, Dad."  
He smiled at her in pride and love. "Me too, my darling. Me too."

Straightening his back, he let go of her. "Well, off you go now! There are many people going mad without you!"

They all waved their goodbyes, wishes and last words while the horses started trotting south-east, to home. Petra hushed one last look backwards to see her father watching her pass and waved one last time. He returned the gesture and even showed her the Peace-sign, which made her laugh and lifted her heart. It was crazy, but she felt so much eased and sad at the same time.

"Although we didn't find gold or treasures at all." Axel spoke up a few minutes later, "I'm glad we've come."  
"Yeah, me too!" Lukas agreed and Olivia nodded. "Not every treasure is glittering gold. The villager was right to send us here."  
"If he knew that it was Petra's father?"  
"Possible. But I doubt we can find out."

Everyone was glad when they finally got out of the desert biome and into a great wood. But, all of a sudden, the horses behaved weirdly and a strange whining was heard.  
"What's up?" Jesse asked, Petra holding on to him. "Don't know. Wait, can it be...?"

It obviously could. Because a black horse was gaining on them in wild gallop. Petra, laughing in relief and astonishment, flew from the white horse's back and greeted the black one. "Avalon! You fool of a horse!" She'd never mounted so quickly. "Ready to go home at last, aren't you?"

The black stallion nodded, snorting loudly and her teammates laughed at the convenient turn of the tables. Now, there was hardly anything left that could hold them off on their way home. At least, they thought so.

 **THE END**


End file.
